2015 NCC Men's Basketball Recap

While the women's basketball team got to celebrate a berth in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, the men's team watched and were probably disappointed as they did not make the field of 62.

I had mentioned last week that given their regional ranking and position in the CCIW, the Cardinals were on the bubble and probably needed the auto bid to get in, or at least upset Augie in the semis and hope for the best. Unfortunately, they couldn't do that. That in no way takes anything away from what this team was able to accomplish this year.

This is a team that finished with a record of 18-8, which is nothing to sneeze at, especially given how tough the CCIW is. This is a conference that got two at large bids out of a possible 19. This team deserves credit for that. They had a monster non-conference portion of the season that slowed down once they got into the thick of CCIW play, but when this team needed to buckle down and win games, they did so.

There were some great performances this season that deserve a ton of credit. For the most part, this team lived and died by its inside presence. Senior forwards Jack Burchett and Charles Rosenberg, who were both a part of this team for that magical 2013 Final Four run, used that experience to help propel the Cardinals.

Burchett did it with his defense and rebounding (a team-leading 7.9 boards per game), but he also showed he could do it on the offensive end, averaging 11.2 points per game on 57.6 percent shooting, getting to the basket at will while also running the point from time to time. He also finished with what I believe was a career-best 58.8 percent mark at the free throw line. While in a vacuum, this is an awful number, he improved drastically over the course of his career and took advantage of his opportunities, especially once conference play kicked into high gear. Jack was selection to the All-CCIW First Team after winning two CCIW Player of the Week awards.

Meanwhile, Rosenberg was the leading scorer of the team, averaging 16.5 points per game on 53.9 percent shooting. While he sometimes took some head-scratching jumpers (including 24 threes, of which he only hit four), he was a force inside on both ends of the floor. Rosenberg also won a pair of CCIW Player of the Week nods while getting named to the All-CCIW Second Team. He also won the Chicago Marriott Naperville Tipoff Tournament MVP back in November after scoring 48 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in wins over Trinity International and Bluffton.

Both of these guys will be gone next year, and their presence will be missed. Burchett finished his North Central career third all time in games played and field goal percentage, seventh in rebounds, tied for sixth in blocks, and (maybe not the most ceremonious honor) ninth in free throw attempts. Meanwhile, Rosenberg leaves the Cardinals tied for sixth in blocked shots with Burchett, but only after blocking 37 this season, the second most in a single season in Cardinal history. That kind of inside presence is hard to replace, especially since their main backup, Mike Reinke, is also a senior and will not be back next year.

North Central will obviously need to retool its frontcourt, but the backcourt will be in good shape for next year. The most notable return for next year is junior transfer Jayme Moten, who was second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting, including a scorching 45.3 percent clip from beyond the arc, probably a top-20 mark in the nation (which I can't be sure of, because the NCAA's stats don't include any games after February 22nd). his 82 makes from deep broke a three-way tie for the record in a single season, which was done twice by a sharpshooter from my WONC days in Reid Barringer. Barringer's all-time mark is probably safe since Moten has only one year left, but that man Heat Checked the Cardinals back into several games this season. Had he not missed three and a half games, he would have had more. Too bad.

Joining Moten as a leading senior will be guard/forward Kevin Honn, who showed a great two-way game, averaging 7.9 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting, including 35.5 percent from three point range. I had him pegged as a guy who would be a key figure for the team, and to a degree, he was. He had some monster games, including the regular season finale against North Park to send the Cardinals to the CCIW Tournament.

After Honn, there's a bunch of youth that, with the benefit of a year of going through The Gauntlet, will be back and better next year. Erwin Henry averaged 7.5 points per game as a freshman, and was key in the win at home against Wheaton. Brandon White wasn't a major scorer, but stepped up when he needed to and provided some good defense. Joe Kennell had almost twice as many assists (58) as turnovers (30) as a freshman, and while his inexperience showed a bit at times, he'll be back and better next year. That's a pretty solid backcourt.

All in all, this team has nothing to hang its head about. They played well for the entire season, and were in the discussion for an at large bid even at the end of the year. (Quick aside, since I mentioned I would throw a hissy fit if Wisconsin-Stevens Point got an at-large bid over North Central: while they did maintain a weaker record against regionally ranked opponents than North Central and lost to the Cardinals in Stevens Point back in December, the Pointers were ranked higher regionally and ended up with a slightly higher strength of schedule; I can't really argue it as vehemently as I threatened.) While you can't discount the rest of the CCIW (Augie is Augie, Wesleyan is always good, Elmhurst had a good year and is young, North Park is young and will be right back in the mix next season, to go through the Top 5 from this year), the Cardinals are still in decent shape for 2016 and beyond. These young guys can take the lessons they learned this year and apply them to next season, and come back ready to tackle the Gauntlet.